It’s the holidays! I’m already thinking that with 2 weeks off I am going to be bored, I get bored when I work afternoons because I can’t entertain myself in the mornings. I guess that will all be over when uni goes back and I will miss this time I have now. However, I have been watching the Gilmore Girls on netflix and it gave me an idea. Rory was making a list of all the things they had said they would do on their days off, and start doing them on their weekends, but I was thinking I could use this time to do something similar. I’m making a list of all the things I always say I want to do but I never seem to have time to do, it also made me think I should have a bucket list of things I want to achieve in this lifetime.

My husband and I were talking today about achievements, and about being content and it made me wonder something… What makes a person happy, what are we supposed to feel, how do we know who we are meant to be? What is contentment?

I guess my biggest issue in this department is that I am never what I would consider “content”. What is that anyway? I imagine being content is being happy with things, I imagine contentment is the feeling of being happy in the moment with where a person is at, and a sense of not really needing anything else. For me I don’t know if I will ever be in this place… I feel like I will always want more, and I am always looking for something and I may never find it. Having said that, I also feel that I will always need to be achieving something, and I think that’s healthy, to have hopes, goals and dreams. If we ever got to a point where we had everything we ever wanted, could we just sit there and enjoy it? I actually wonder if anyone in the world has ever achieved everything and been at a place where they could say they don’t want anything else. People who don’t have a lot of money want more money or nicer things, while those with it sometimes use it for self destruction (ie drugs), or just buy things that never make them happy. So what does make us happy?

Being around people I want to spend my time with is what I truly enjoy, reading, sewing and music all give me a sense of accomplishment, and having a nice cosy, tidy and clean home to exist in. So I think this is the mould for my holiday goals, not that I need to fill them with things, but it will give me a direction when I find myself lost or flat as I often do when I’m left to my own devices.

Holiday goals:

Patchwork – finish the quilt and maybe start something new

Play the keyboard

Read

Hang out with friends – this could be a bbq, coffee, just a chat

Spend some time at home

Go to yoga

Cook

I don’t want to start the new year with new resolutions like people do every year, why should we wait for a special day to roll around? What can’t we make real changes today? Share them with people and make yourself accountable. I feel I need to share these things with someone and check in with them maybe on a monthly basis to see where I’m at, to see if I have done any of the things I wanted to do. I want to start taking more time out for me, I want to improve my yoga practice, improve my piano, read for pleasure even when uni goes back, and get my sewing machine out more.

While those are all very simple things I also have bigger goals, we are saving for a house, we have a goal to make more space for ourselves. We want to spend more time together, and save for a place that accommodates our needs, where we won’t have inspections every 3 months, where we can have pets and enough space to live in comfort – with a wardrobe that fits our clothes, a yard and a garage… We want to travel, maybe have a baby some day and my husband to get full time work after uni finishes for him. These are all material things that of course don’t matter, but I think they are things we all have, and they just make life more comfortable. But there are other important things to invest in, like relationships and experiences. I want to have experiences, rather than stuff. I want to create memories with people who are important to me. I want to prioritise people and experiences this year, and self development.

Lately I’ve been thinking about what is really important, and having a big house and expensive things we have to spend all our time working just to pay for isn’t living. We should live by our means, have less belongings, be with people more, turn off phones and tablets, be present, notice the smell in the air, the warmth of the sun. Laugh at jokes, enjoy a good book, learn about things, figure out who we are, not who we want others to think we are. I want to get more enjoyment out of my time, and the only way to do that is to be proactive, make your own fun by doing what you enjoy. Not by working all day and doing housework in all your spare time. Share the load and take some time out for you where you can.

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About myhousewifelifeblog

I am a nurse by trade, and a traditional "de facto" housewife by nature. Constantly seeking a more organised existence. I like to cook, sew and play my keyboard. I try to keep my house organised but I've not yet mastered this, and I am endeavouring to reach my image of ultimate organisation at home. I'm not sure if it's possible, but I'll give it a go.